Dangan Ronpa Ge-Nex: Kamen Rider Gakuen
by Colossal Fighter GX
Summary: The popular crime/thriller game of Danganronpa moves out of its comfort zone in this Kamen Rider installment. The legacy continues as the battle for Hope and Despair returns in the newly-revived Hope's Peak Academy. And the only way the Masked Rider can end it is if he plays by the rules. Fortunately he has what he needs to even the playing field! (SYOC)
1. Chapter 1

**Danganronpa: Spike Chunsoft/Kamen Rider: Toei**

* * *

**Beta-Reader: This debut is aided by Shyjoker, an indonesian fanfic writer who speaks english with the best of them.**

**(CFGX): This story is inspired by introduction of Danganronpa's Another Episode, and the idea that it's branching off from it's primary game genre (although it keeps its creepy vibe). This gives me an idea to take the series out of its comfort zone and experiment with a different genre. And what better than tokusatsu. I got curious and wondered what Kamen Rider would be like if it were based off the Danganronpa series, and here are the results. I really hope I'm able to please you all with this story.**

**And as an early note? I'm making this a SYOC system. So if you want to see a character in a story like this, you can by going to the bottom of this chapter. The rules are right there. Send whoever you want as long as they're creative.**

**P.S.: By the way, one character is inspired by one from 5-Digit. Rights of that character are his.**

* * *

What is your thought when first enter High school? The thought of 'Just four more years of this and off to go a better life' flowing in? Had dreams when older and been holding onto that through the years? Are you one of those rich snobs living on silver spoons and think ready to set on.., well are you living on silver spoon? No? Then willing to work with heart out to the best at that dreams?

Feh! Good luck with that and you'll need a hell lot of it! 'Cause if you don't gone in the same place I'm at, then it's same as living a pipe dream! Those of you don't know what I'm talking about the TOP school in Japan -scratch that- the freaking world. Hope's Peak Academy what is I'm saying!

If I heard some question about; "What's so special about that school?" Then my man, you are living under the rock most of the decades. Stepping to that school means stepping to a life! After coming in and out from that school means their life already decided from them.

Jealous much..? You should be! Because this, amazing and greatest of the greatest school needs two things from yourself as one of them; One, already in high school and you gotta be at top of whatever there is to be best at! Forget the entrance exam! Hope's Peak's teachers set out and recruit these lucky guys to be students. Fun fact: these over-talented students of Hope's Peak are known far and why as 'Ultimates'!

I betting that you've been wondering why telling you this, didn't you?

Yep, you guessed bud!

I'm an Ultimate too, and NOT just any ordinary Ultimate..!

_"I see him!"_

Wait a minute… "Alright, let's get started!"

Oh, here's something I forgot to mention. Believe it or not, this is where the magic happens. Just watch…

_"Uh…Where is it?"_

"Eh?"

_"It's not here! I can't find it! Where is it?!"_

"What are you talking about?! You did bring it with you, right?!"

_"I asked if you packed it for me! Remember this morning? When I asked you to keep it! With the rest of the stuff I need?!"_

"Uhhhhh…" he looked down and spotted what his partner's referring to, "Where are you exactly…?"

* * *

Running through the facility until he finally reached the spot, and what waited for him made him recoil. A lightly-armored yet ferocious monster of monochromatic black and white with another person who seems at his age who is currently, dangled by his shirt on hold by the monster. "Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" The monster's gaze was stolen by him by his outburst.

The beast was surprise and growled. "Another one?! Just how many of you plan to get in my way?!" Tossing the boy aside, the monster had set its sights on its new target.

'Are you crazy?' That is the very first thing you would've thought about this situation, and that monster would rip me like apart effortlessly like paper. Trust me, I don't have much more of the choice in this case. 'Will I go through this alive?' That thought with my only answer will full pride. Of course I will!

**Ding-dong!**

See? And also, confused?

"Urgh! You just got lucky!" The monster growled, without another word it sprinted to a corner and disappeared. With that thing gone, the red-headed student rushed over to his friend who was just sitting up. "Hey there, buddy…" he grinned sheepishly, "Glad to, uh.., see you're still in one piece."

His friend groaned, "Let me guess, you forgot again." He was slightly annoyed by the reply of a wider grin.

Offering his hand to the friend saying, "Look, the important thing is, you're safe. Now come one. We better get got class."

"Fine," they sighed, grabbing his hand and lifting themselves up to their feet. "But we really need to talk.., eventually."

Crazy, huh..? That's a normal high school life for you… scratch that! Actually that's just high school life around here. Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy. With my name, case you're wondering is Kenichi Matsuda.

I guessing you need some kinda explanation. What the hell just happen? That's a question everyone here's constantly asking.

That thing that just attacked is what we started to call 'Despers'. They started showing up a little after this school year started, one after another. It's a wonder why this school's still open with these guys lurking around. But as it turns out, there's one thing standing between them and this whole school burning to the ground. But we'll get to that later, because right now…

I got class.

DING-DONG, PING-PONG!

Thank goodness that's the last class today! Long-winded I should tell you, but then again, so way any other class. With the day over, I went across of the academy with my buddy was just coming from the building he was in. Also, his name's Jason.., Jason Hutchins. We went to our usual routine of walking around the school grounds and it took a while as usual to get talking.

"You're looking a little tense."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jason said. "I almost got killed today."

"People almost get killed every day. But that's not really the same thing. You're okay now, right?"

"I don't think that changes anything. But it's a good thing you came when you did."

"Yeah, it's luck alright; my luck."

Jason groaned, "I really don't think that's the case."

"Oh, come on! When are you gonna stop living in denial? After all, it's my luck that got us both where we are now!"

"Which luck? You always talk about it but all I seem to have is bad luck. And no offense, but I didn't remember having it until I met you."

Sarcasm alert!

Suddenly an audible vibration came from both the satchel carried by Kenichi and the book bag on Jason, "Still think this is bad luck? Now we get to finish what we started!"

"We'll talk about that later!" I start to run, "This should come first!"

* * *

Jason continued to run across the south section until he was running through a dispersed crowd of screaming students in the faculty. Following through the path they were running from, he finally stopped when he found what he was looking for, something that doesn't belong here.

Two others of its kind, throwing chairs and turning tables as the last remaining people ran to safety, now surround the monster from before. Now it was just him and them.

Seeing Jason, who was catching his breath, snarled, "You're that guy from earlier! You just don't learn, do you?!"

Instead of a verbal reply, Jason instead reached into his bookbag, revealing up a small white device and held it over his waist, where a metallic white strap formed and fastened the device in place.

"Wait! Where'd you get that?!" the monster snapped, again there's no response as Jason instead he pulled out a small card-like device with a silhouette of a sword, and slid it into the device from a slot at the top, in which the monster responded with a terrified gasp, "But that means that you're…you're the…"

Jason slammed the card inside and the front panel of the device opened into halves, as if a book was opened. That revealed a translucent screen containing an image of a pen, as well as the images behind it. The device's LED light inside flashed through revealing the two images crossing each other.

**-IT'S TIME FOR KAMEN RIDE!-  
**

A pillar of light shot through Jason's length from the belt and surrounded him, as pieces of armor hovered closely. The two imaged appeared in front of him and lowered towards themselves until they matched the image on his belt.

In one last flash of light there stood a man in grey leather and white metal, with a helmet with a simple glass visor and mouth-guard. The more distinguishable feature were two things: one is the large shield-shaped chest-plate with a checkered black-and-white four-square design, with a similar crossed image of a sword and pen; and attached to his back, a high-tech looking backpack with a shield of the similar crest as was on his chest. Strapped to his left wrist is a small, yet bulky brace with and extension sticking out from the back.

"You're the new Masked Rider!" the monster exclaimed.

* * *

Finding privacy in a dark corner, Kenichi pulled out a laptop from his satchel and opened it. Doing that he could watch the fight from an HUD camera, along with a special program. "Now let's get to work."

* * *

**(Cue Music: '****Ore wa Tokoton Tomaranai!' by ****Hironobu Kageyama) **

"Surprise..!" the armored man cheered, then getting into position readied for battle, "It's time for Kamen Rider!" and with a battle cry he sprinted off towards the trio of monsters.

"What are you waiting for?! Get him!" the leader monster orders, hasting for its two cohorts to charge in to intercept their current target.

The armored warrior broke through the monsters' defense and spun back around to lunge at one of them, hoping to divide and conquer. While Jason swung at one monster the other took the chance to grab him from behind, though difficult due to the bulk on Jason's back but managed to achieve. While held back he has about to get punched by the monster in from of him but was able kick it back; then allowed gravity to pull him down and take his captive with him, before leaving it as he sprung back up on his feet.

Reaching over his shoulders he grabbed two handlebars and pulled them back over, where a set pair of cranes was pulled out holding a set of two weapons: a sword and a gun which he pulled out. After pulling the trigger on the first one, he wildly swing at the recovering second, scoring a few blows on it as well. After quickly distancing himself from the two, he reached over his right thigh and pulled out a card similar to the one he placed into his belt, and placed it on a reader on top of the gun before closing it in.

**-LOADED-** out of the six buttons on the bottom of the gun's barrel, he pressed the third.

**-STOP-** after pulling the trigger, the shot fired completely paralyzed one of the monsters stiff.

As the second one charged in, Jason quickly removed the card from the gun and added it to the hilt of his sword. Like its counterpart, it came with six buttons coming up the blade from the hilt, which Jason pressed the third.

**-STOP-** when the monster got close enough it was jabbed in the torso, which made it freezes up in a similar fashion.

"Get away from me!" his attention was turned to an unfortunate straggler backing away from the first remaining monster. Jason should end this quickly. With both of the monsters frozen, he removed the key from his brace and placed it right under the hilt of his sword from below.

**-RETRIBUTION TIME-** electricity danced around the blade as it glowed with energy. Jason charged striking both paralyzed foes once each, not even paying attention as they explode behind him as he kept in motion and struck down on the third monster.

**(Music paused)**

But unlike the previous two, this one was not destroyed, but was stunned giving Jason enough time to collect the distressing victim and backed away before the monster fully recovered.

"You really shouldn't be involved! I'm giving you this one chance to walk away!" the way the monster said it sounded more like a plea than a threat. But Jason still gave no satisfying response, "That's it! That was your last warning!" the monster pulled out a large ax and approached Jason and the bystander ready to strike. But plans seemed to have changed when the toll of a bell sounded in the area;

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

More importantly, it was the school bell.

"You got lucky this time…" the monster growled as he put away the axe and ran off.

Jason finally relaxed and turned to the bystander, "Are you alright, sir?" he asked under his mask.

The person he's addressing is a man of middle age, with neatly-combed blonde hair and dark-brown eyes. Jason could see from behind his visor that he was still spooked from the earlier assault, although he quickly composed himself, clearing his throat before giving his reply. "Uh, yes... Thank you for saving me there. It looks like I owe you my life." He brought out an open hand for Jason to grip and shake with his own.

"Um, thank you..,"

"Now if you would excuse me, there's someplace I have to be. But I do hope we meet under better circumstances."

"Okay then, you better make sure to stay indoors or something!"

"Your concern is appreciated!" the man called back.

Finally alone, Jason tapped on the side of his mask, "Kenichi, one Desper just got away. I need to know where it's heading."

_"Er, that's gonna be a bit hard. I can't find him anywhere."_

"Please tell me you're joking. How'd that happen?"

_"I don't know his signal suddenly disappeared after that last bell! It's like he vanished!"_

"You mean like he dropped off the grid?"

_"Kinda what I said! My guess, he might not show his face until next time! Let's just call it a day!"_

Jason sighed, "Fine. I'll meet you back at our place." After cutting off, Jason opened his belt and removed his card, resulting in his armor vanishing into particles of light.

**-See you next time-**

"Another day. Right…" Jason huffed and walked off.

* * *

After leaving the school grounds through the western side he reached a large lot lined with many parked trailers. It took a few minutes as usual to walk a long ways through the trailer park in which his was placed in the farthest corner from the entrance, 'Home sweet home, I supposed. He stepped through the door and welcomed himself to the usual sight of his trailer home.

"Glad you're back," Kenichi, who's his roommate greeted, "Hey, about what we talked about earlier…"

"Now like there's much to do besides homework…" Jason sighed. And on such topic he pulled his notes out to join Kenichi in their study on the small dining table.

"Y'know, it's not coincidence that we managed to get here. You oughtta trust that I know, I've been having this 'luck' thing for as long as I can remember."

"Both good and bad, I'm guessing."

"…No use getting by that, I guess. Yeah, it's a little bit of both. Whenever something good happens to me you can bet something bad will always wait around the corner. It's been happening to me for a long time. I mean, look around. This is proof." Kenichi waved off to the interior of the trailer.

"I think I know what you're saying but, mind elaborating?"

"Alright, you know how Hope's Peak's students are separated into two types of students? There're the Ultimate's who get scouted from all across the globe; and there's the Reserved Course, who has to get here the hard way: with a huge wad of cash and a nice score on the entrance exam. They take separate classes on opposite sides of the school, so the two don't mingle as much. What's more is where they bunk. While the Ultimate's get to sleep in dorms in a separate location down south, Reserves got this trailer park…"

"Then why are you here if you're an ultimate? Are you saying bad luck got you thrown in here?"

"If I could I'd ask for better sleeping arrangements, but they said the dorms are full! So yeah, they threw me in the trailer; and the lowest kind at that."

"You sure there aren't worst?"

"The E-Handbooks don't lie. Why else would the other trailers have better lighting than this? And speaking of handbooks, they're kind enough to get you one too, right?"

"Right…" Jason dug into his bag and pulled out the small rectangular device, subconsciously turning it on, "I wonder if they knew it could turn students into superheroes…"

"Hey speaking of, you sure about the whole secret-identity thing? I mean, I've read comics before but still…"

"Yes, I'm sure. And speaking of which, don't you think there's something strange about that last Desper from earlier?"

"You mean that chatty one? If you're talking about how a Desper actually struck up a conversation with you, you're not the only one,"

"It's not that…well yeah, at least as far as I know, Despers don't talk; just make gurgling robot noises and that's it. But I'm really talking about who it was after. I'm sure he was after one of the faculty,"

"He is. I saw his face on the heads-up display. He's the social-studies teacher," Kenichi fiddled with his handbook and showed Jason a picture of the same person. "That's Kris Lumini, the Ultimate Humanitarian."

"I heard of something called the Lumini Institute. Are they the same?"

"Very the same. His family's been helping people since his mom found the thing. When there's disaster they're always there to help. There's no job to big or small as long as it means helping people,"

"The question is, what would a Desper want with a philanthropist? What could Mr. Lumini have that it's want?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's the fact that they're just plain evil and like wrecking stuff. Thanks to us there's no body count so far."

"Let's hope it stays that way…" From there Jason refrained himself from any more conversation and just focused on his work. It was a bit exhausting but talking to his roommate had never been dull; this was the first time he realized this…

* * *

Jason used to like Saturdays, but Hope's Peak seemed to ruin it for him as well. Whose idea was it to send kids to school on a Saturday? If they book them throughout the week in general he'd have to seriously consider being a politician or something to do something about this schedule. Thank goodness they're only half-days, but he still missed his Saturday morning cartoons.

Feeling hungry, Jason decided to go down to the southern part of the academy for a bite. There're lots of living necessities including the dorms for the main students. It also included several shops and a food court where he went. Scrapping whatever credits he has on him, he bought something at least close to enough to last him until dinnertime.

'rrrr' 'rrrr' 'rrrr'

Too bad he picked the wrong time to go on a lunch break. Finding his current location too crowded, he ran until he stopped at a corner. Finally sure no one would listen in, he reached for a small device on his book bag strap and pulled his mouth close to it, "Tell me you're working on it."

"Yeah, I just got it. It's at the east side where the classes are!"

"Then that's where I'm heading." Jason cut off the link. 'Let's see if I can figure out what going on…'

* * *

As Jason sprinted on over to the eastern section of the academy, he reached for his belt and sling it around his waist. After combining his card with it and transformed, the suits enhancements helped him the rest of the way. When he skid to a halt at the main school building and hastily looked around, he didn't have to look hard when two people caught his likes of sight; The Desper and the… social-studies teacher, Kris Lumini.

"Looks like I was right," Jason muttered. "Now time to get right to it!"

"Stop right there!" he managed to grab attention with his deliberate outburst as the Desper stood long enough for him lunge at it and send them both tumbling to the ground. Jason quickly stood on his feet and backed away to the teacher. "What are you waiting for?! Get outta here!"

"Again, thank you…" Lumini took he order to heart and sprinted for his life.

Unfortunately, that doesn't sit well with the Desper as it recovered, "You…just made…a big MISTAKE!"

"Then enlighten me! Why are you after Kris Lumini?!"

"That's none of your business!" The Desper exclaim. "Which is something you don't seem to understand..!" pulled out his axe, ready to attack the Masked Rider.

"So you're just gonna have to learn the hard way!" It charged and brought its axe down hard on to.

But the Masked Rider stood its ground as the blade was being held back by a black and white shield, which happened to carry the school's new crest consisting of a crossed pen and sword, "Then we're done talking..!"

Jason revealed his firearm and fired a few rounds on the Desper, taking the weight off of him as the monster staggered back. "I know you already heard this before but…"

"It's time for Kamen Rider!" Runs forward keeping his shield in front and fired a few more times as he closed the distance, the Desper blocking as many shots as it could with the blunt side of its axe. With its guard up Jason switched from his shield and blaster to his sword, which he used to jab the Desper in the abdomen, receiving even more sparks from it in the process. Backing away, he switched once again to his blaster and removed the card from his hip to the weapon's chamber.

**-LOADED-**

Then, of the six buttons placed beside the chamber, Jason pressed the second from the chamber, twice.

**-BLAST!- -BLAST!-**

Finally, Jason went for the hammer at the back, which he toggled three times. The sound the weapon made afterwards caught him like always.

**-DA-DA-DANGANRONPA! EXPLOSION!-**

Jason aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, releasing a volley of three lit projectiles homed right at its intended target. Upon impact, three consecutive explosions were set off and knocked the Desper several feet away. Even with all those attacks.., the Desper…

Still enduring strongly..!

'I gotta hand it to him, he's a tough one; but I gotta finish this!' reaching over to his left side Jason pulled an ornament among the ones clipped onto a sash. With a flick of his fingers the pendant opened and revealed a row of teeth. He replaced a similar ornament by slotting the other in his bracelet.

**-PAKKU KOUKAN (PACK CHANGE): POWER-** As the bulk on Jason's back changed shape into a sleek, metallic-silver jetpack. He then pressed the sole button on the device in which the key is inserted.

**-RETRIBUTION TIME-** when the rhythm of a bell chimed, energy traveled from his belt to his right hand. He made a mad dash at the Desper with a clenched fist. Recoiled, a powerful punch to the monster's abdomen and after a moment a delayed force knocked it back, the Desper frozen stiff as an image of a shield appeared under its feet, with two more images appearing on either side leaning towards each other until they crossed and formed the school's symbol. Dangerous voltage danced around the monster and it fell to the floor on its face.

"It's one weird thing after another," Jason muttered, finding this situation more strange than usual. "Normally they'd blow to scrap after being hit that hard. I wonder…" he cautiously stepped closer to the Desper…

A sudden impact struck him from out of nowhere, knocking him off-balance. He scrambled back to his feet and looked for wherever that shock came from. But even if he could find it, he wasn't quick enough when a black and white blur came and sped right past him and back again, scraping his armor as it passed by until he was kept down. He only had enough strength for the moment to raise his head to see someone carry the Desper off over its shoulder.

"What was that…?" Jason groaned.

.

.

.

* * *

"Despite the results, I would call this mission a success."

"It's a good thing we retrieved out lab rat before this masked nuisance uncovered their identity. We don't want our plans being disturbed, even in the slightest."

"Our subject passed our little test with acceptable results. But now he outlived his usefulness."

"So what are we waiting for? We should kill him right now."

"…No. It's better if we erase his memories. The best way to make sure he won't be traced back to us, is to make it look like he was never involved in the first place, if everyone is okay with that."

"Agree, there's no reason for anyone to get their hands dirty, at least not so soon."

"Right, And with our little trial run successful, I think it's safe to say it's time to start this game."

"And the entire school will be our game board. Whether they know it or not, the students, the faculty, everyone will be our pieces. Even the Kamen Rider himself."

* * *

**Rider Glossary:**

**Arsenal-**

**Gakuen Driver: this belt enables one to transform. By inserting a specially-designed E-Handbook, the belt opens and activates.**

**Variety Pack: Just as its name suggests, this Pack Change consists of three different weapons, each used in different situations:**

**(1) Danganreader: A primary firearm. In addition to firing normal energy shots, the user can also 'hack' into a Desper with Truth Bullets by combining it with the E-Chamber, allowing the use of 'words' as actual bullets. By combining two or more Truth Bullets, you can create a much stronger Truth Bullet as long as the two former are compatible. Multiple Truth Bullet's can be fired up to three times by toggling the hammer that many times.**

**(2) Buredoriter: A primary blade. Like its firearm counterpart, it shares the ability to 'hack' into Despers using Truth Swords by combining it with the E-Sheath.**

**(3) Rithmitector: A primary shield.**

**Power Pack: Appears in the form of a sleek, silver jetpack. Besides providing standard flight capabilities, it also gathers energy in the suit into a single point for an short, intense burst. So it's usually used as a last resort in battle as it exhausts the suit's power to a minimum.**

**E-Chamber/E-Sheath: Similar to a standard E-Handbook given to Hope's Peak's students, this device holds Truth Bullets/Swords, digital 'bullets/swords' with words in them. Effects vary depending on the words use, just as its strength for the length of that word.**

**Pack Keys: Keys used to perform 'Pack Change', where the Pack on the suits back can be exchanged for another. When not in use they are folded in to function as sort of backpack clip-ons.**

**(1) Variety Pack Key: Enables use of the Variety Pack.**

**(2) Power Pack Key: Enables use of the Power Pack.**

**(3) Com Pack: Allows communication between one and another Com Pack.**

**Clip Brace: A brace on the suits wrist to function in conjunction with Pack Keys. By pressing the button on the top, one can perform a 'Retribution Time' final attack depending on the equipment used. In conjunction with the Power Pack, one can perform a powered punch, or kick if attached to the leg.**

**Desper: A humanoid monster with light armor, colored a monochrome black and white for either half of its body. Although mechanical in nature, recent events seem to compromise this information...**

* * *

**And that's the end of the chapter. I hope you liked it. And here's the submission for your character:**

**Name:**

**Type: (student or faculty)**

**Age: (15-18 if student, though I may accept few exceptions…)**

**Gender:**

**Appearance: (physical description, such as hair, eyes, clothes, ect.)**

**Ultimate Talent: (No Lucky Student, Detective or Despair. I want as less spoilers to the games as possible. After all, I haven't seen Another Episode yet; and not planing to until its english release. You may have your character be a reserved student, but this exception has limits…)**

**Personality: (what makes this character unique from the rest)**

**Background: (significant past events, family, secrets, ect.)**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Possible Motive: (will be better explained in your submission.)**

**Role in this story: (can be major or minor; major characters have rather high odds of being part of the events involving the Kamen Rider, making a potential ally if possible...)**

**I will be looking forward to what you think of this story. Please feel free to ask questions if you want...**

* * *

**Please Read and Review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Danganronpa: Spike Chunsoft/Kamen Rider: Toei**

* * *

**CFGX: "Here's the next chapter. I almost didn't bother making another since there were so few who saw it. But I decided to give it another try. In this one introduces a new character given to my by a mister 'poffinblock'. If you enjoy this story so far I'm sorry I took my sweet time putting it up. If possible, I could always use a fellow writer to help me with it; And for anyone else, don't hesitate to send your own characters...**

* * *

"This is not the way to spend a Sunday morning!" Jason grunted as he stormed past the small army of Despers at the school's central plaza. It's not long after yesterday's fiasco and already he was in for a rude awakening. The only free day off from school for the week and he has to spend it fighting bad guys. "No rest for the weary…terrific!"

Leaning the Buredoriter's blade on its shoulder, Jason took out the E-Sheath and placed it into the specialized slot on the frontal guard, -LOADED- and then his Variety Pack key on the slot underneath, -RETRIBUTION TIME-. Jason swung hard as he passed one Desper after another, before the army went falling down before exploding.

"Finally…" Jason breathed, relieved that he's finally done. Now that he gone through pest control, he's got the rest of the day to do what he felt like. But first, there's shopping…

* * *

Out of the four quarters of Hope's Peak Academy, the south section is the place where the Ultimate students go to their dorms when they don't have classes. But other than that are other basic necessities for living. That includes the shopping plaza. The thing is, instead of using actual money, there are credits given according to weekly grades. It works like this: good grades equal more credits, which are used to by what they need at the school's stores and shops. Sometimes certain students open their own booths and work in their own shops, even getting paid in exchange with actual money. It's a complicated system. Today Jason plans to shop for groceries at the weekly produce stand, run solely by one of the school's Ultimates, unsurprisingly. Unfortunately he couldn't have come in a more inappropriate time.

A trio of thuggish-looking students were just finished roughing up the vendor over the knocked over stands and stomped off, "Whadda you looking at?!" one growled as they bumped into him. Jason then walked to the vendor.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

"I'm alright," the vendor groaned. Jason helped him up, the vendor winching and clutching onto his stomach.

"Did they hurt you?" Jason asked.

"Actually, this was before all this," the vendor replied, "I forgot how I got it though."

Seeing the mess made in the area, Jason offered to help clean it up. Shortly after… "Is anything still fresh…?"

* * *

It's not his idea of high-quality groceries, but at least it'll last him and Kenichi for the week. Upon returning to their trailer, he found something lying on the steps: a manila envelope with the label 'Case 1&amp;2' on it. After picking it up and going inside, he placed the groceries on the small table and briefly inspected the envelope. There doesn't seem to be anything on it, not even a return address. The only thing distinguishable is the their trailer number stamped on it. It's actually the same as any other mail that Jason and Kenichi rarely received.

"I wonder what's inside…" Jason opened the envelope and dumped its contents on the table, which is a coupe of photos and a note. He picked up and looked at the pictures. What's on them was nothing he'd seen or has any interest in, but somehow able to latch onto his heart like an omen. But when he put aside the pictures and read the note, he then decided to worry. "Kenichi better see this."

* * *

After calling his roommate, Jason marched over to the central plaza to meet with the envelope in hand. There were quite a few people there today. There he met Kenichi where he told him they'd meet.

"Alright, I'm here. So where's the fire?" Kenichi asked.

"Not here, okay? Let's talk somewhere else…" Jason led Kenichi to a quiet corner, "Something weird just came in the mail today."

"If it's a playboy I swear they keep getting the wrong address."

"Don't worry, we're still gonna talk about that," Jason scowled, "But I'm taking about this," he opened the envelope and showed Kenichi one of the pictures that were inside.

The picture depicted a vast acre or so of what appeared to be farmland, with a small two-story house in front of it at the corner of the photo. The angle looked like it was taken from an airplane, "It's a large field. What's so interesting about this?"

"Read what's on the back."

Kenichi turned the picture over and was a message on the back that read:

_'To the untrained eye this may look like a farm in the middle of nowhere. But these fields are home to one of the world's greatest symbols of agriculture.'_

"So what?" Kenichi raised an eyebrow.

"Here's the second one," Jason held up the second picture, and both of Kenichi's brows rose when he inspected it. The picture was similar to the first one, except the scene changed to nighttime. But its most discerning attraction is the state of the fields…

The crops were razed in an enormous sea of flames. An up-front observant would think the fire could light up the night sky. But it wouldn't matter if they were the owner of that field.

"That's…what is that?" Kenichi could only reply.

"I'd say it's the same place. And listen what's written on this one…" Jason lowered her eyes to the message on the back and recited it, "_'But alas, all good things must come to an end! What could possibly have caused such a travesty to fall unto this poor family's land! This is your chance to find the ULTIMATE answer!'_ But I can't make out that last part. Any idea what 'poo-foo-foo-foo-foo' mean?"

Kenichi looked at the back alongside Jason, "I think it's pronounced, 'pufufufufu'. Whoever sent this is laughing at us; literally, I mean," he then let out a sinister-sounding giggle, trying to imitate the text on the letter. "Like that, see?"

"What a sick sense of humor." Jason groaned.

"Yeah, but where did those pictures come from?"

"Beats me. Like I said, I found this on the doorstep."

"So what's it all mean? Do you think it has something to do with this school's Desper problem?"

"I don't know. But if it is…" Jason looked back down at the second picture's letter, "if I'm reading this message right, someone wants me to find out…"

* * *

_"How long are we gonna wait around? Are we gonna start this or what?!"_

_"We've waited a long time for this moment. What's a little time more? Just be patient."_

_"But why bother with the pointless attacks week in and week out? Every drone lost is a waste on our resources!"_

_"A waste of their resources, you mean. We can always get more from them."_

_"And besides! We're just giving our little hero a routine exercise. We don't want him to be out of shape before the games begin, do we?"_

_"Why should that matter? Our plan is to actually win, in case you forgot."_

_"Where's your sportsmanship? There's no satisfaction in a one-sided competition."_

_"Precisely. Just wait a few more hours, and the fun will truly begin."_

* * *

It's always a pain waking up for school in the morning. Sometimes they have trouble waking up without an alarm clock. But on the one day they manage to figure out how it works, Jason was only able to grab the bookbag he's been holding next to his bed. Getting his thoughts together, he realized that the alarm clock wasn't due to go off for another hour. Instead was the warning signal from his belt that he kept in his bag.

"Kenichi. Wake up, we got a problem," Jason moaned groggily, pushing against his bedmate. All he got in return was a few moans so Jason shook him, "C'mon, wake up! There's a Desper!"

"Huh? Wha?" Kenichi woke up and rolled over, "Just five more minutes…" Jason was about fed up and decided to go to plan c: pummeling Kenichi with a pillow. That surely woke him. "Alright, I'm up! Dang!"

"Kenichi, there's a Desper out there!" Jason scrambled out of the bed and grabbed his bag, "Get the laptop, I gotta go!" he stormed out the door, leaving Kenichi to get ready himself.

* * *

The Masked Rider ran across the school to find the source of the disturbance until he reached the southern district near a large building, since he figured that's where most of the students are at this time. When he was yet to hear any screams of terror, he was beginning to lose hope when two shapes caught his eye. There's a chase scene happening in front of him, and he's about to end it. So he charged in and knocked the Desper into the ground.

"Get out of here, now!" the student nodded and ran for his life. Jason quickly got up and backed away, facing the recovering monster. "Let's make this short, okay? I got classes, you know!" he reached back and drew out his Buredoriter and charged. He took a few swings but the Desper was smart enough to dodge every strike. "What's wrong, afraid to get hit?!"

"Are you?" was the Desper's reply as it brought out a black-and-white axe and took a swing at Jason. Sparks flew from his chest as he was knocked off his feet. It swung the axe over its head but Jason rolled over and the blade hit the ground instead.

"So you're the guy from yesterday, aren't you!" the Masked Rider demanded as he recovered.

"Maybe, or maybe you don't know anything!" the Desper took another swing but its blade was blocked by Jason's Rithmitector shield. He held up as the axe was pressed against him.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Why don't you figure it out for yourself!" the Desper quickly jumped back, taking the weight off the rider's shield, "That is the rule, right?"

"What rule? You think this is a game?!"

"That's for you to find out. And if you're smart, you'll play by the rules."

"Play with this." Jason returned his shield and drew out his Danganreader. After that he grabbed the E-Chamber and slotted it.

-ERROR-

"Wha?" Jason muttered in puzzlement. He removed the card and tried again.

-ERROR-

"What's going on…?" Jason stood confused before something came to mind, causing him to groan out loud, "Don't tell me…" he tapped on his helmet to speak to his partner, "Hello? Are you there? Hello!" when he didn't receive an answer, he facepalmed, "Somehow, I'm not surprised…"

"Looks to me like you can't use that toy blaster of yours," the Desper raised its axe, "Now what?"

"Now…" Jason replaced his blaster with his sword in one hand and his shield in the other, standing ready to attack, "Now, I take you out!"

Ding-dong!

That's the sound of the warning bell being sounded. That means there's only ten minutes until classes start. But for Despers…

"Time's up. I guess you'll have to wait." A few small pellets fell at Jason's feet and exploded, causing clouds of smoke to rise up and obscure his view. He jumped out and looked left and right, but the Desper was nowhere to be found.

"He got away, again." Jason removed his E-Handbook from his belt and his armor fell, "At least I have something to look forward to at lunch…" he sighed.

* * *

A trip back to the trailer, followed by a little scolding and half a day worth or classes later, Jason and Kenichi decided to do some investigating. The first thing on their agenda is to find whoever that Desper is after and why it's chasing them.

"It's a good thing you got the camera up when you did," Jason said to Kenichi as they looked over this morning's footage. Kenichi paused the video when they got a good look at the victim. The footage got blurry at first, but a fix of resolution took care of that, "Thank goodness for image enhancement. You know that guy?"

"I've seen him a few times, but never actually met the guy. Same with most Ultimates here; probably because they figured out I've been sleeping in a trailer."

"I'm gonna pretend I wasn't paying attention." Jason muttered as Ken pulled up a profile.

"His name's Taro Hiragaki, and he's here for being the Ultimate Ecologist."

"Do you know where he could be?"

"Don't know. But I do know one way to find out…"

* * *

Everyone may have to wear their standard-issues school uniform during school hours, but you really can't miss a guy with thick eyebrows wearing a rainbow tie. So there they are now, lurking through the shadows wearing sunglasses and overcoats, following this student wherever he happened to walk to.

That's until they followed him to the library. It seemed like a huge place, big enough to get lost in your first visit; and lost him they did.

"Great, we lost him," Jason huffed, taking off his sunglasses. "Not good."

He and Kenichi looked around at the intersections of shelves and found no one in sight. "This isn't good. I wonder where he is…"

"Try looking behind you!" The two nearly jumped out of their skins when someone grabbed their shoulder and falling afterward. Their yelp seemed to attracted more attention than they want as the students within earshot shushed them. "It looks like I got a couple of spies on my tail. I wonder why…"

"Er, I think you got it all wrong," Kenichi chuckled nervously, "Y'see we were just looking for the bathroom!"

"You're kidding. This whole P.I. cliche you got on isn't exactly subtle. If you're looking to avoid attention, you're doing the complete opposite." Taro's retort caused the three to be shushed a second time, "Let's…let's just take this outside…"

* * *

After walking out and standing by the entrance...

"Let's try this again: what are you doing following me around?" Taro asked. "Or do I need to call campus security and let them sort it out!"

"Whoa! Uh, let's not be hasty!" Jason shirked, "We're just concerned! We…heard that you were attacked by a Desper this morning!"

"So? I don't know why it's any of your concern."

"Aren't you worried that he'll come back?" Kenichi asked.

"I guess you haven't heard there's a Kamen Rider in our school. Even if I get into trouble he can always come to the rescue, right?"

"And if he can't get there in time?"

"He'd better if he wants to avoid a lawsuit!" Taro was already walking aff as he called out.

"Well, that didn't work." Jason muttered.

"Wait, what are we trying to do again?" Ken asked.

"I think we're trying to find out what's going on with him and that Desper. ...I thought that was obvious."

"Right, but we don't have any kind of plan besides that, now do we?"

"That was the plan, your plan."

"Hey, let's not point fingers. The question is, how are we gonna keep tabs on the guy now?"

Suddenly a loud scream nearly deafened the campus of its usual daily clamor. Somehow, it sounded a bit more casual the more times they hear it.

"For starters, we can keep him from getting killed," Jason said as he tossed off his jacket and pulled against his bookbag, "Ready?"

Kenichi jumped out of his own coat with his satchel over his shoulder. "Ready as you are."

"You gonna stay awake this time?"

"Look, you gotta learn to let this stuff go!" Kenichi backed away, "Besides, don't you have lives to save?" he then ran off for a hiding place.

* * *

Once transformed, the Masked Rider ran against the crowd of scared students into the central plaza where two Despers lurk about. He stood in front of them, making sure to catch their attention. And it did as the duel charged towards him without hesitation.

But the Masked Rider was prepared. He pulled out his Danganreader and Buredoriter. He made a beeline towards the Despers and fired a few rounds to stun them before scoring a couple of slashes as he slipped past. They staggered before a familiar axe materialized in one's hands and made another advance.

"This is getting old, you know!" the Kamen Rider fired away but the axe-wielder kept up its charge while blocking the shots like before. Jason changed tactics and met the Desper with his sword, the two blades clashing together before they were pushed back to make space. He was about to make his own charge before a series of shots on the back sent him tumbling to the ground.

Jason quickly turned to his side and raised his sword up just in time to reconnect with the axe the first Desper had swung down. At the next swing it crashed onto the ground missing the rider entirely as he rolled out of the way and shot back to his feet. Now he's standing between a Desper with and ax an another Desper with a blaster as its own weapon. A long-ranged user and short-ranged user.

Changing tactics, Jason retrieved his shield in place of his gun. He blocked the continuous shooting with his sword while he was able to swat back the axe-wielder. With that small window of opportunity he once again swapped weapons and fired at the shooter and then at the axewielder, stunning one after the other.

Now was the time to wrap things up, so he added two more bullets and flicked the hammer twice.

-DA-DANGANRONPA: EXPLOSION!-

With a burst of energy the blade grew to three times its size. The effect of the STOP bullets word up just in time to meet the edge of the sword before a couple of explosions took their place.

Ding-Dong!

And not a second too soon as the lunch period's ending bell rang.

"That oughta do it," Jason sighed in relief and stretched, "Another two bite the duel."

"Look again, Kamen Rider!" Jason spun around and found yet another Desper, this one carrying someone over its shoulder. He then realized it's the targeted student he was trying to protect! "It looks like you can't see through a simple distraction! This game is over!"

"We'll see...?" Jason was ready to bring his sword out before a few small orbs rolled to his feet. The couple of seconds he had to process this was enough to explode and send a giant cloud of smoke rising around him. Quickly he jumped out to fresh air and darted around the area, realizing against his hopes that the Desper escaped.

He made a swing in the air in anger when the fact hit him like a ton of bricks: the enemy managed to escape, and there's no telling what they have in store for their captive.

* * *

"Not to rub salt on your wounds, but you kinda blew it out there."

"No kidding!" Jason barked and marched ahead. First the Ultimate Humanitarian and now one of Hope's Peak's students. Despers didn't exactly take prisoners before so why start now? What could that one Desper want with that guy? What does it all mean?

"Hey, what's that?" Kenichi pointed down a package left on the doorstep. He picked it up and when they got inside he examined it, "No return address. Again?"

"Just like before," Jason said, "By who could be sending it?"

Suddenly the box started shaking, causing Kenichi to toss it on the seat in front of the small kitchen table. The two stood back as it continued rumbling in different directions as if something was trying to get out.

"Hey, why don't you go over there and open it, wouldja?"

"What? No way! Why don't you open it?!"

"You're the superhero! You do it!"

"You're the one who brought it in here so you do it!"

The box the shook more frantically until it exploded. The two dropped to the floor as packing pellets flew everywhere. When they found out it wasn't a bomb, they stood up and looked over to where the package burst, where something was sitting on the table.

Standing on its stubby legs it dusted itself off with its equally stubby hands. "Phew! I thought I'd never get out of there!" standing on the table was a toy-sized teddy-bear, its monochromatic black-and-white theme reminiscent of the Despers plaguing this school. In addition the left black side held a twisted, wicked-looking eye along with a toothy grin. This strange toy stood on its stubby legs and looked at the two students who stared back. "Well, aren't you gonna introduce yourselves to your new roommate?" "Hey, dum-dums! I ain't got all day!"

"Okay, I'll bite. Who and/or what are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Wha? I know it's been so long but surely you couldn't have forgotten a face like this! I feel so neglected!"

"Aren't you gonna tell up who you are?"

"Well, someone likes to cut to the chase. Fine. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Monokuma. And as to why I'm here, I'd like to congratulate you for making the first cut."

"First cut? Wait a minute, did you have anything to do with those Despers running around constantly?"

"And what if I did?"

"Where have you taken him?"

* * *

All he could see was total darkness ever since he woke up, unable to remember how he came to be here. The only thing he could remember was...that Desper...

The lights suddenly came on and his surroundings were revealed. Taro found himself inside a giant room, completely empty an nothing more. But it wasn't the walls that caught his attention, rather the floor itself as it, strangely enough, was the source of the lighting. Each tile the floor was sectioned into was glowing bright, but not enough to reveal the ceiling above. Why was he here in this strange place...?

He looked up when a monitor turned on on the other side of the room, right over where the doors can be seen.

_"Ahem, testing one-two..."_ the voice from the television muttered. It was child-like by the tone, but there was something else hidden it. The static cleared, revealing the voice behind it belonging to... _"Are we rolling? Good!"_

Taro's eyes widened and his pupils shrank. Right before him behind the screen was a monochromatic stuffed bear. Although he had never seen it until now, he had heard stories of it, stories that struck fear into all who heard them.

"No...no! I won't be part of this! I won't!" he shot up and made a mad dash for the exit only to be yanked back off his feet. He turned back to see a chain holding him by a collar attached to his neck. On its front was a pendant lit with the number ten.

_"Now, if you're watching this I assume you've found yourself in such a pickle!"_ the bear on the screen said with a chuckle, "I'd assume you're all scared and confused, so I'll cut for the chase. You've been hand picked to take part in a very special game!"

"A what...?"

_"A game! Sheesh you got wax in your ears or what?"_ Monokuma said, _"And in case your're gonna ask 'what kinda game?', it's one that decides who gets to come out on top. It's a game of survival!"_

"Sur...survival..."

_"The way to win this game is simple. Just get to the other side and you're home free. Simple, right? Wrong! Notice the floor? Each wrong step you take will take a point off the collar, which I'm sure you're wearing right now. And when the collar hits zero, KABOOM! Observe..."_ the screen switched to a picture of a marionette wearing the same collar as him, which then exploded, taking the marionette's head with it. He flinched from the scene as he subconsciously reached to his own collar. _"I think you get the picture. You'll find the rules on your E-Handbook. You may start anytime you're ready._" the screen then shut off, and the thirty columns worth of tiles all changed to a different color, in a pattern as no two of the same colors touch.

When the chain detached from his collar, the student quickly pulled out his E-Handbook from his pocket upon its beeping and he was presented by the aforementioned rules following:

**1: You must hop on one foot for each step you take.**

**2: You have to form a pattern in sequence using all colors present to you.**

**3: You can not step on a tile of the same color in the same sequence.**

**4: You must step on two tiles at once on every third step.**

**If you need assistance, press the 'HELP' button.**

Wait, judging from the rules given to him, what he must do to escape seemed all to familiar...

* * *

The alarm on the laptop blared alarming Jason.

"Looks like the perp's returned," Monokuma chuckled. "Whaddaya plan on doing about it?"

Jason only gave a small glare before grabbing his bookbag. "Ken, keep tabs. I got a job to do." the rider went out the door.

"No, wait!" Kenichi collected the laptop and quickly sprinted off after him. "Do leave me here with that thing!"

Jason kept running as the words Monokuma said stuck to him...

**Flashback...**

_"If you want to find your little friend, you're gonna have to play a little game I set up."_

_"A game? Are you serious?"_

_"Serious as a heartattack! If you win, he goes free! If you lose, well, I'm sure you can figure that one out."_

_"You need to tell me where you taken him."_

_"I'm afraid it's not that simple. Remember that, what do you call it, Desper, you met? He's the one who took him. So he's the one to go to."_

_"Fine! I nab 'im and make him tell me where he's keeping the hostage!"_

_"Don't worry. You'll see him again when the game starts. But like I said. It's not that simple. You see..."_

**...End Flashback.**

As he ran Jason slung the belt around his waist. When it clicked into place, he opened the buckle. "IT'S TIME FOR KAMEN RIDE!" and after sliding in his E-Handbook, the armor it produced instantly fastened around him. "Ken, where is he?!"

"Just give me a minute!" Kenichi hid behind the first tree he saw and opened the computer, where a blip appeared on the map inside. "He's at the central courtyard!"

"Thanks! I'll be right there!" Jason rushed on to the large courtyard where people were already running about, trying to get away from the axe-wielding Desper.

"They told me you'd come back, Masked Rider!" the Desper growled.

"Glad I could make it." the rider said, pulling out his shield and sword. "It's time for Kamen Rider!" he charged forth and swung his sword where the Desper blocked with his axe.

* * *

These tiles, its pattern, these rules, this whole trap's styled like a colossal game of hopscotch! For every third column you hop, there are two tile you can plant each foot on. All he has to do is get across.

There were four colors of tiles he could distinguish from: Bronze, White, Peach, and Navy. The first tile he hopped was the closest bronze tile, a beep sounded from his weight on it. The second came the white tile, then two peach tiles, then navy, then bronze...

BZZZTT

9

What just happened?! He landed on a different-colored tile and the counter went down by one! It shouldn't have happened. He followed rules 2 and 3 to the letter! He made the four-color sequence, so he should be able to make it over again! Did that bear leave out something to ensure he couldn't win?!

* * *

The Rider managed to match the Desper blow for blow, until he finally managed to swat the axe out of the Desper's hands and and slashed it across the chest, before knocking it flat with his shield. On the ground, it scrambled for its axe before the weapon was knocked out of reach from a shot from the Rider's blaster.

"Now might be a good time to give up and tell me where you're hiding that other guy." he said.

The Desper was running out of options, but it wasn't ready to quit just yet. Remembering it has one more card to play, it reached back and pulled out... "What's a Desper doing with an E-Handbook...?" the Rider wondered. When the Desper pressed the button its hide started glowing. "I don't think so!" Jason fired a few round hoping to deal some damage. But instead of those results, a set of springs shot out and smashed into Jason, knocking him back a few feet. When he got back up he saw, in place of the black-and-white Desper, was a similar monster modeled after something from the jack-in-a-box, colored a monochromatic blue and yellow.

Okay, maybe he wasn't prepared fro something like this to happen. He couldn't hit his target if he can't catch it. Wherever he swung or aim at the Desper it always managed to jump out of the way. The way it managed to use its spring-like shins to bound from one spot to another is something new to Jason. And even when it stays on the ground it could always throw its kicks like a whip when stretched to its limits, keeping it out of reach of Jason's blade.

* * *

BZZZTT

4

Something's wrong here! No matter what tile he steps on, it's often the wrong one! He has only 4 strikes and 22 columns between him and the door. He doesn't understand; he's followings the rules as closely as he can! Is this some sort of trick? What is he doing wrong? IS there something among the rules he overlooked?!

**1: You must hop on one foot for each step you take.**

**2: You have to form a pattern in sequence using all colors present to you.**

**3: You can not step on a tile of the same color in the same sequence.**

**4: You must step on two tiles at once on every third step.**

**If you need assistance, press the 'HELP' button.**

The **'HELP'** button! There must be something there that can help him! Wasting no time he pressed on the HELP text below the rules, where an audio clip suddenly played.

_"I figured you wouldn't last long without some assistance,"_ Monokuma's voice oozed. _"So I took it upon myself to give you a special 'tool' you can use for this game. But such a tool requires a price of equal value. Are you willing to pay it? Or would you rather risk getting through my game with using your own ability?"_ after the video played through, two options are presented to him.

**HOPE/DESPAIR**

Price? What price is he talking about? He looked one more time at the playing field he's standing on, then felt at the exploding collar around his neck. Considering the circumstances he needs whatever's presented to him to get out of this place.

**HOPE**

After pressing the **HOPE** option, the screen has turned into a sort of camera-like function. Whatever the camera captured seemed to have a label in front of it, specifically the colors the tiles are. But something isn't right: the colors are labeled differently from the color they actually are!

Bronze were labeled either 'RED' or 'ORANGE', White labeled 'YELLOW', Peach labeled 'GREEN', and Navy labeled 'BLUE' or 'PURPLE!'. If he's following the colors by their labels instead of what's actually in front of him, there are seven colors instead of four?

Only one way to find out. He hopped on the tile labeled 'RED'

Bing.

Then the next tile labeled 'ORANGE'.

Bing.

So far so good. Next he stepped on the tile labeled 'YELLOW', not forgetting about the forth rule.

Bing.

This is working. If he keeps following the labels on the camera, he could get to the other end!

* * *

Jason tried whatever trick he could think of to get the upper hand. When the Desper made another swing of its let, he managed to grab a hold of it by its ankle; by it managed to do the same with its arms at it threw a punch to make him let go. It then unleashed a barrage of blows while staying a clear distance away. Jason managed to catch both of its arms, but that allowed it to catapult itself towards him, slamming both its feet and launching him as he was forced to let go. While falling freely from the air, the Desper lashed its leg on the fallen rider for good measure.

"Ken, if you got any ideas I'm open for one!" Jason groaned.

* * *

"Don't rush me, I'm sciencing as fast as I can!" Kenichi argued, then a window came up on the laptop, "Ack! Popup-! Wait, I got mail!" the window had a link that lead Ken to a private message.

* * *

"You're opening mail at a time like this?!" the Desper stretched its torso and coiled itself around Jason before unleashing a series of punches on him. When it's done, it slammed him flat back into the ground before retracting itself away from him. Picking himself back up off the ground was like having his body made of lead. Seeing how weak he's becoming, the Desper decided to retrieve his axe with an outstretched arm and was about to cleave the rider in two, but the blade was deflected by Jason's shield. He took that split moment to aim his blaster and fired away at the Desper, recoiling and retracting its arm from the series of shots.

Finally finding an opening, Jason fired off a -STOP- Truth Bullet that froze the Desper in its placed. With the monster now incapacitated, he removed the Pack Key from his wrist and replaced it with another:

-PAKKU KOUKAN: BOOSTER-

His Variety Pack became replaced with his jepack Booster Pack, and Jason pressed the button on his key.

-RETRIBUTION TIME-

The Masked Rider curled his fist as all his remaining power were transferred to that points. Using his pack to accelerate, he shot himself like a rocket towards the Desper. The moment he was close enough he delivered a powerful punch that connected...

Ding-Dong!

Right into the open palm of another. Jason was only able to look the new arrival in the eye before he was tossed aside. He scrambled back to his feet but saw no one, finding himself once again alone. "No...!"

"I guess he won this round," Jason shot up to see Monokuma sitting on one of the courtyard benches. "And you were so close to knocking his block off too!"

"Where did that other guy come from?!" Jason growled. "Did you send him here?!"

"Yeah, and before you accuse me of cheating, you simply ran out of time. Someone has to make sure no one goes off script," Monokuma said. "But look on the bright side: remember that hostage you were trying to save?" suddenly the ground opened, some of the cobblestones hiding a secret hatch that revealed the student poking his head out.

"Taro?!"

The student turned his head to Jason's voice as Taro climbed out of the hole.

"See? You friend is perfectly fine! To be honest, I'm kinda surprised."

"Hey, uh, are you alright?" the Rider approached Taro but he backed away.

"I'm fine." He turned to face Monokuma. "So that's it, right? I'm free to go?"

"Sure, you're free to go," Monokuma chuckled. "For now that is."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Sorry, but I gotta run. Buh-bye now!" Monokuma the fell back off the edge. When Taro and the Rider looked over the bench, the bear was gone, as if it simply vanished. Muttering under his breath, Taro began to stalk away.

"Hey, wait a minute!" the Rider called out, causing Taro to stop.

"Please understand, I appreciate that you were trying to rescue me. But I managed to escape on my own. Don't worry, I'll be more careful not to get caught next time." Suddenly a beeping sound was heard and Taro pulled out his E-Handbook.

"Jason?" Kenichi called in.

"Yeah, what's up?" Jason replied, making sure Taro wasn't listening.

_"I didn't want to distract you, but someone sent an audio clip earlier while you were fighting. You'll never guess who it is..."_ Kenichi played the feed in Jason's helmet.

_"If you're listening to this it means that the victim was trapped in a game and won. But in doing so they made themself a primary contestant in the main events to come! I'm sure you don't want to be held responsible if anything bad happens to them, so make sure to keep an open eye on them. They might not be so lucky next time! Pufufufufufu!"_

Jason swallowed at Monokuma's words as the feed ended. Even worse he saw Taro glancing back at him with a worried expression, as well as the E-Handbook slightly trembling in his hand. Putting two and two together, it looked like he got a similar message.

Reaching for his belt, he pulled out his E-Handbook and his armor dissolved. Taro stood with his mouth agape, although there was barely any expression shown, as he saw the Masked Rider's true identity.

"So..." Jason shrugged. "You place or mine?"

* * *

**Rider Glossary:**

**Students-**

**Name: Taro Hiragaki**

**Type: Student**

**Age: 18**

**Gender: Male**

**Appearance:Straight black hair that has goes a little below the ears. The bangs are parted to the left. Sharp light brown eyes. Lanky and no defining muscles. (181 cm and 63 kg) A mole next to the left ear on the left cheek. Eyebrows are noticeably on the thick side. Wears a navy blue dress shirt with the sleeves neatly rolled up above elbows. Wears a white tie that has a rainbow-colored tie clip on it. Wears black suspenders, chocolate brown dress pants, and black dress shoes.**

**Ultimate Talent: Economist**

**Fun Fact: born with deuteranopia. **

**References-**

**Envelope 'Case 1&amp;2': A manila envelope holding two photos**

**(1) An areial view of a small two-story house and cropfields; written on the back, _'To the untrained eye this may look like a farm in the middle of nowhere. But these fields are home to one of the world's greatest symbols of agriculture.'_**

**(2) The same picture in the same angle, except that the house is on fire and the crops razed; written on the back, _'But alas, all good things must come to an end! What could possibly have caused such a travesty to fall unto this poor family's land! This is your chance to find the ULTIMATE answer! Pufufufufu!'_**

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